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Ford, Petty's Garage to build limited-edition Mustang GT from SEMA Show

The customized vehicles on display at the annual SEMA Show are often just there to exhibit a company's wares. They are more an illustration of what's possible by picking the right bits out of a catalog, rather than a model available in complete form. Ford and Petty's Garage are doing something a little different, though, by putting a very limited run of the tuner's supercharged Mustang GTs up for order through Blue Oval dealers. The Petty's Garage Mustang GT made its debut with a host of other modded 'Stangs at the 2014 SEMA Show. It featured a blue-and-black two-tone paint job and a supercharged version of the pony car's V8 under the hood. Just 143 of them are now being offered to customers – 100 in Stage 1 trim and 43 in Stage 2 form. At a starting price of $62,210, Stage 1 buyers get the aggressive body kit from the show car, including a center-exit exhaust at the rear, trunk lip spoiler and a set of 20-inch wheels. Although the real meat of the setup is a supercharger, cold air intake and retuned engine calibration also help take the output up to 627 horsepower. Inside, customers get "The King" Richard Petty's signature on the dashboard. Shelling out $92,210 for the Stage 2 version adds bigger brakes from Wilwood, HRE three-piece wheels and the two-tone paint job from the SEMA show car. The boosted Mustangs can be ordered from Ford dealers, but at least one of the Stage 2 versions is already sold. Rocker and car enthusiast Brian Johnson of AC/DC bought the first one. FORD AND PETTY'S GARAGE TEAM UP TO BUILD LIMITED-EDITION MUSTANG GT Ford dealerships to offer 143 limited-edition Petty's Garage-tuned Mustang GTs; a Stage 1 version and an even more exclusive Stage 2 version will be available All Petty's Garage Mustang GTs feature Ford Racing/Roush supercharger boosting output to 627 horsepower*, as well as unique exterior and interior treatments including Richard Petty's signature on the dashboard AC/DC's Brian Johnson ordered the first Petty's Garage Stage 2 Mustang GT – the rock 'n' roll legend's first-ever domestic vehicle purchase DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 19, 2015 – Ford Motor Company and Petty's Garage are teaming up to build a new 627-horsepower* Mustang GT – a limited-edition fastback inspired by the popular Petty's Garage Mustang GT on display at last year's SEMA show in Las Vegas. "We received a tremendous amount of positive feedback about our Petty's Garage Mustang GT displayed at the SEMA show," said Jeff Whaley, Petty's Garage COO.

Ford talking unibody Ranger replacement

Now here's some welcome news. Car and Driver reports Ford is seriously mulling a replacement for the recently deceased Ranger, but the successor to the compact pickup's throne may not look anything like what we've seen from the nameplate in the past.
While speaking at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show, Doug Scott, marketing manager for Ford Trucks, said there's still a market for a smaller pickup, but that buyers expect to see a larger differentiation between the smaller utility vehicles and their full size counterparts in price, capability and fuel economy.
According to Scott, that means a vehicle with a payload capacity of around 1,000 pounds paired with a towing capacity of 3,000 pounds and "a dramatic reduction in fuel consumption." But the biggest piece of that recipe is the price tag, and Scott says to keep the MSRP far enough away from the already cheap F-150, the answer could come in the form of a unibody design. Scott says target customers in this market don't care whether the truck has a traditional frame or not, so long as it's tough enough to do the job and has the capability they need.

Weekly Recap: Diesel scandal continues to fuel VW's woes

Volkswagen's woes continued this week when it was delisted from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and stripped of awards. Senators are also lining up to advocate for criminal and civil action against the automaker, and its consumer reputation is in tatters. Put simply, it's been another rough period for VW. Despite this, the company eked out a sales gain of less than one percent in September, though that was well behind the overall market's performance. Sister brand Audi, which sells a diesel A3, was less affected, posting a 16-percent gain in September. Revelations that Volkswagen rigged millions of diesel-powered cars around the world didn't surface until September 18, so the full sales impact of the ongoing scandal won't likely be felt until October. Meanwhile, VW's image continues to take a beating, and an AutoPacific survey found only one in 14 vehicle owners have a positive opinion of the company. Before the scandal broke, three-quarters of respondents had a positive view of VW. The survey also found 64 percent don't trust Volkswagen, though the same number believe other companies are or may also be using cheating devices to pass emissions tests. "The reputation of diesels has been severely damaged, at least for the short term," Ed Kim, AutoPacific's vice president of industry analysis, said in a statement. Despite the lingering malaise, experts believe VW will recover, just as Toyota and General Motors eventually emerged from their own high-profile controversies. "Consumers have proven through numerous recalls that they are resilient and quickly return to their buying habits," Kim said. OTHER NEWS & NOTES Mazda to reveal sports car concept in Tokyo Mazda will bring a curvy sports car concept to the Tokyo Motor Show in October. The automaker is being especially coy with the details, only releasing the dark teaser shot that you see to the right and a cryptic statement that suggests the concept "condense[s] Mazda's entire history of sports-car development into a single model." Immediately, speculation abounded this is an RX-7 and RX-8 successor, though Mazda didn't specify what engine the concept will have. Reportedly, the company is still working on rotary engines. Mazda will have a Cosmo Sport 110S on its stand in Tokyo, which pioneered rotary technology in 1967. Read into that what you will. The Rock pitches Ford service Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, is the new frontman for Ford service.